Sliding-door latch



(No Model.) Y

- v C. C. ABBE. SLIDING DOOR LATCH.

N0.5s7,335. PatenteaApr.9,1895. l FHI-: lg Pula Arron/VEN,

THE omits Prrns co.. vnuvmumo.. WASHINGTON. D. c.

llNrrnD STATES ATENT erica,

CHARLES O. ABBE, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK..

SLIDING-DOOR LATCH.

SPECIFICATION frming part of Letters Patent N0. 537,335, dated April 9,1895.

Application filed July 13, 1894. Serial No.751'7,390. (No model.)

.To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES C. ABBE, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of Brooklyn, Kings county, New York, have inventedImprovements in Latches for Elevator and other Sliding Doors, of whichthe following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide sliding doors or gates moreparticularly gates or doors for passenger elevators with a lockingdevice which will notA present any projecting part to catch on theclothing of persons passing, which can be cheaply and yet stronglyconstructed, easily handled and cannot be opened by malicious personsfrom the outside, and will be self-latching and always operate to lockthe door in closing, and to. this end my invention consists in theconstruction hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is an inside view of an elevatordoorway provided with my improvement, and showing the door closed. Fig.2 is a similar view showing the door open. Y Fig. 3 is a sectional planview on the line 3 3, Fig. 1, drawn to a larger scale. Figs. 4, 5, 6 and7 are views of moditications, drawn to a larger scale.

In sliding doors as usually constructed, more particularly the doors ofpassenger elevators, the latching device usually is a hook partprojecting beyond the forward or front of'the door or that edge whichforms one side of the passage when the dooris open, so that personspassing through when the door is open are very apt to have theirclothing caught on this projecting hook. When these sliding doors are ofiron, slots have to be cut in the side danges for the passage of thelatch and the structure thus greatly weakened. Moreover after thesesliding door-ways have been in use for some time they cease to hang welland then it very frequently happens that unless the door is carefullyguided by the operator, the latch fails to properly engage its hook withthe slot in the side-post.

My present invention is mainly designed to obviate 'these objections tothe existing forms of latches for sliding doors, and in the accompanyingdrawings I have shown my invention 5o as applied to an elevator door.

In Figs. l, 2 and .3,A isthe fixed or stationary front or frame of theelevator hatchway, and B is the horizontally sliding door shown in Fig.-l in the closed position and in Fig. 2 in the open position. Thisstationary front and the sliding door may be-made of any desiredmaterial or design. In the drawings I have represented them as made ofIianged iron frame-work, with open panels o, a filled by grill-work.Between the grills isacross-piece or transom a2.

The latch, in my improvement, is a long'lever D, which is pivoted to thetransom or cross-piece va2 of the door at d", andr instead of having itsengaging part extending to and beyond the front edge of the door, itscatching end d is carried to the rear edge of the door to co-operatetherewith a catch E on the inside of the fixed front or frame A.

The forward end of the latch lever D is provided with a handle fixed toor forming partl of said lever near the forward edge of the door, in aposition where it can be conveniently grasped by the elevator man to unllatch the lever and open and close the door.

As will be seen on reference to the drawings, the catch on the fixedframe has its engaging notch opening downward, and the outer end of thelatch lever itself may conveniently be formed by bending to engage withthe catch. By raising the front or handle end of the latch lever, thelatter'may be freed from the catch and the door then be slid open. Thehandle end of the latch lever is of course arranged to overbal'ance thelatching end. Near the handle end the lever may be guided by a strap s,and the latching end is preferably bent around the vertical fiange `atthe rear edge of the door (Fig), in order to avoid weakening the door bycutting a slot in the flange.

In order to prevent malicious persons from opening the latch byinserting a knife blade for instance between the meeting edges of thedoor and frame, I construct the flanges of the 9 door and'frame so thatthey overlap, as by beveling them, as shown in Fig. 3.

As a further protection I may provide the handle end of the latch leverwitha gravity latch F, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, this latch rooengaging with a catch or projection p upon the door when the lever is inthe closed position, so that the operator has to turn this gravity latchupon its pivot on the lever D before that end of the lever can be raisedto free the opposite latching end of the lever from the catch E on thefixed frame. gravity latch F in such case carries the handle d by whichthe lever D, and through the latj ter the door are manipulated. Whenthis gravity latch F is used, it will be well to pivot the catch on theframeJ as in the modification E', Figs. 4 and 6, for convenience inclosing.

To insure thelatchingof the door even when through the operatorscarelessness, it has not been pushed all the Way up to the side post ofthe frame, I prefer to notch the under side of the catch in advance `ot'the main engaging notch, as shown in Fig. 4. Thus even if the door ispushed only far enough toward the closed position for the latching endof the lever to engage with the first notch, the door will neverthelessbe locked. In any case, however, the latch lever is Self-latching, thatis, no manipulation of the latch itself is required in closing. Themovement of the door causes the latch lever `to engage automaticallywith its catch.

To prevent the possibility ofthe door being unlatched by the applicationof pressure at the point and in the direction indicated by the arrow,Fig. 3, I may make the latching end ofthe lever and the catch on thefixed frame to interlock with each other in that di rection. This may heprovided `tor as shown in the modification illustrated in the perspective view, Fig. 6, and in the end view of the catch, Fig. 7. In thiscase the catch, whether pivoted or stationary, is provided with a lip fin front of the retaining notch for the latching endof the lever,andthis lat ter has a notch di', with which said lip engages or interlocksto prevent the disengagement of the lever from the catch by pushing thedoor in the direction of the arrow Fig. L3.

From the foregoing description of my invention, it will be seen that alatching or lock ing device for sliding doors is provided free from theobjections heretofore mentioned,`tor with myimprovement, there is noprojecting catch or hook `on the front edge of the .door to catch theclothing, and the device can be cheaply yet strongly constructed withoutThis weakening the door by the cutting of slots in its anges.

I claim as my invention- 1. A sliding door having pivoted thereto alatch lever with its latching end projecting at the rear edge of thedoor and provided near the front edge of the door with an operatinghandle iixed to or forming part of the lever in ncombination with astationary part of the frame having a catch to engage with the latchlever, substantially as described.

2. A sliding door having pivoted thereto a latch lever with its latchingend projecting at the rear edge of the door and provided toward thefront edge of the door with an operating handle fixed to and formingpart of the lever and ,overbalancing the latching end, in coinbinationwith a .stationary part of the frame having a `catch to engage with thelatch lever, substantially as described.

3. A sliding door having a latch lever with its latching end projectingat the rear edge oli` the door and having pivoted to its forward endahandled safety latch in combination ywith catches on the door and frameto engage with the safety latch at one end of the lever and the latchingend `of the lever, respect ively, substantially as described.

4. A sliding .door having a latch lever with its latching end projectingat th-c rear edge of the door in combination with a lixed part ot theframe having a catch provided with scv eral notches in advance of themain engaging notch, substantially as described.

5. A sliding door having a latch lever with its latching .end projectingat the rear of the door at right angles to the movement of the door, incombination with a fixed part of the frame havinga pivotedcatch, withwhich said lever end engages, substantially as described.

6. A sliding door having alatch lever with its latchingend projectingatthe flanged rear edge of the door in combination with a stationary fronthaving at its forward edge a liange overlapping that on the rear edge ofthe door.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence ol2 two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES C. ABBE.

Witnesses:

EDITH J. GarsWoLD, HUBERT l-IoWsoN.

ICO

